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Maryland

The recorded hazard history of every county in Maryland: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, and National Flood Insurance Program claims since 1978.

Maryland has 25,002 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 24 counties, led by damaging wind: 257.5 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.

NCEI attributes 228 deaths and 1,667 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $1.5B. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are Montgomery, Calvert and Anne Arundel.

FEMA lists 38 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Severe Winter Storm (24 Jan 2026). NFIP policyholders filed 25,376 flood claims since 1978, $341M paid; 33,232 residential policies are in force.

758events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

25,002events since 1950257.5 per 100 sq mi (US 56.0)

38disaster declarations since 1953last 24 Jan 2026

25,376NFIP flood claims$341M paid

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. Storm records through 30 Jun 2026; declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Compared with the United States

Measure	Maryland	US
Recorded events since 1950	25,002	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	257.5	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	40.6	59.6
Deaths recorded by NCEI	228	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$1.5B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	4.1	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$23K	$43K
Residential flood policies in force	33,232	3,139,862

Hazard mix

Wind9,756

Winter4,573

Flood3,545

Hail1,580

Heat1,292

Fog1,090

Cold1,009

Other793

Drought450

Tornado438

Lightning313

Tropical143

Wildfire20

Hazard	Events	Share of US	Deaths
■ Wind	9,756	1.4%	25
■ Winter	4,573	1.6%	17
■ Flood	3,545	1.9%	24
■ Hail	1,580	0.4%	—
■ Heat	1,292	2.3%	130
■ Fog	1,090	5.9%	3
■ Cold	1,009	1.9%	1
■ Other	793	1.7%	4
■ Drought	450	0.5%	—
■ Tornado	438	0.5%	9
■ Lightning	313	1.7%	12
■ Tropical	143	1.3%	3
■ Wildfire	20	0.2%	—

Events by decade

Hail: 13Tornado: 13Wind: 32

Hail: 34Tornado: 22Wind: 88

Hail: 33Tornado: 45Wind: 180

Hail: 45Tornado: 16Wind: 280

Hail: 211Tornado: 102Flood: 191Wind: 914Winter: 378Tropical: 40Heat: 239Cold: 47Drought: 229Lightning: 69Fog: 39Other: 154

Hail: 560Tornado: 90Flood: 533Wind: 2235Winter: 1259Tropical: 46Heat: 405Cold: 303Drought: 179Wildfire: 15Lightning: 175Fog: 207Other: 377

Hail: 477Tornado: 86Flood: 1748Wind: 3403Winter: 1972Tropical: 29Heat: 483Cold: 458Drought: 42Wildfire: 5Lightning: 41Fog: 593Other: 200

Hail: 207Tornado: 64Flood: 1073Wind: 2624Winter: 964Tropical: 28Heat: 165Cold: 201Lightning: 28Fog: 251Other: 62

581950s1441960s2581970s3411980s2,6131990s6,3842000s9,5372010s5,6672020s

Recorded events in Maryland by decade and hazard group, including events recorded by forecast zone. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Counties by events per 100 square miles

County	Events	Last 12 mo	Per 100 sq mi	Per 10k residents	Dominant	Tornadoes	Hail	Declarations	NFIP claims	NRI risk
Montgomery County	1,908	55	386.9	18.1	Wind	28	191	21	776	Relatively Moderate
Calvert County	774	27	363.1	82.4	Wind	19	49	24	559	Very Low
Anne Arundel County	1,460	31	352.0	24.7	Wind	26	97	23	2,825	Relatively Moderate
Howard County	856	21	341.1	25.6	Wind	20	55	22	422	Relatively Low
Baltimore city	270	1	333.6	4.7	Wind	7	24	22	1,065	Relatively High
Talbot County	810	27	301.6	215.3	Wind	5	24	20	677	Very Low
Cecil County	1,041	25	300.6	100.2	Wind	18	35	21	703	Relatively Low
St. Mary's County	1,060	27	295.6	92.6	Wind	34	80	18	613	Very Low
Kent County	814	20	293.8	422.4	Wind	4	18	21	341	Very Low
Harford County	1,197	33	273.8	45.5	Wind	23	84	20	353	Relatively Low
Carroll County	1,149	40	256.7	66.1	Wind	27	71	19	138	Relatively Low
Washington County	1,139	28	248.8	73.5	Wind	15	113	17	370	Relatively Low
Frederick County	1,624	42	245.8	58.0	Wind	38	86	23	271	Relatively Low
Caroline County	745	19	233.2	223.1	Wind	8	16	21	77	Relatively Low
Charles County	1,021	28	223.0	60.5	Wind	28	97	24	361	Relatively Low
Baltimore County	1,328	48	221.9	15.6	Wind	32	146	24	3,366	Relatively Moderate
Prince George's County	970	19	201.0	10.2	Wind	26	105	19	1,158	Relatively Moderate
Allegany County	643	11	152.3	94.9	Wind	10	86	17	377	Relatively Low
Wicomico County	435	10	116.2	41.8	Wind	11	33	14	244	Relatively Low
Garrett County	704	12	108.5	245.3	Winter	12	48	14	110	Very Low
Queen Anne's County	395	22	106.3	77.8	Wind	12	20	18	1,073	Very Low
Somerset County	292	8	91.3	118.8	Wind	6	22	14	1,260	Relatively Low
Dorchester County	445	18	82.3	137.0	Wind	14	39	20	1,142	Relatively Low
Worcester County	271	4	57.9	51.0	Wind	15	32	14	2,519	Relatively Low

Events are county-recorded plus zone-recorded events whose zone is named for the county. NRI risk is FEMA's National Risk Index overall rating (December 2025).

Counties by flood claims per 100 policies in force

County	Claims, last 10 years	Policies in force	Claims per 100 policies	Claims since 1978	Paid
Allegany County	51	135	37.8	377	$5.4M
Baltimore city	163	678	24.0	1,065	$27M
Howard County	154	816	18.9	422	$16M
Prince George's County	421	2,249	18.7	1,158	$7.9M
Dorchester County	223	1,382	16.1	1,142	$22M
Cecil County	83	533	15.6	703	$14M
Carroll County	27	177	15.3	138	$1.2M
Frederick County	75	501	15.0	271	$2.1M
Charles County	74	547	13.5	361	$6.5M
Wicomico County	54	488	11.1	244	$6.0M
Montgomery County	205	2,029	10.1	776	$4.8M
Calvert County	70	699	10.0	559	$9.6M
Harford County	50	534	9.4	353	$4.0M
Somerset County	153	1,649	9.3	1,260	$15M
St. Mary's County	80	990	8.1	613	$11M

Counties with at least 100 residential policies in force. Claims by year of loss in the ten years to 2026, divided by residential policies in force as of 3 Aug 2026; a rough ratio, since policies in force today differ from those in force when the losses occurred.

Federal disaster declarations by year

195319902026

Declarations touching Maryland by year declared, 1953 to 2026; each disaster number counted once.

Incident type	Declarations
Flood	10
Hurricane	9
Severe Storm	8
Snowstorm	7
Biological	2
Winter Storm	1
Tornado	1

Most recent declarations (each disaster number once, with the number of counties designated):

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
24 Jan 2026	EM-3634	Emergency	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	24
4 Feb 2021	DR-4583	Major disaster	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Isaias	3
26 Mar 2020	DR-4491	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	24
13 Mar 2020	EM-3430	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	24
2 Jul 2018	DR-4376	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storm And Flooding	2
25 Jun 2018	DR-4374	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	2
16 Sep 2016	DR-4279	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storm And Flooding	1
4 Mar 2016	DR-4261	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	19
10 Apr 2014	DR-4170	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Snowstorm	3
20 Nov 2012	DR-4091	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	24
28 Oct 2012	EM-3349	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	24
2 Aug 2012	DR-4075	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Straight-Line Winds	6
5 Oct 2011	DR-4038	Major disaster	Flood	Remnants Of Tropical Storm Lee	7
16 Sep 2011	DR-4034	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	15
27 Aug 2011	EM-3335	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	23

Flood insurance claims by year

197820022026

NFIP claims in Maryland by year of loss, 1978 to 2026.

25,376 claims, 15,081 paid, $341M in total; 1,305 repetitive-loss and 137 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in Maryland with flood claims (315).

Year by year

Each year's events, declarations and claims: 2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011 · 2010 · 2009 · 2008 · 2007 · 2006 · 2005 · 2004 · 2003 · 2002 · 2001 · 2000 · 1999 · 1998 · 1997 · and earlier years back to 1950

Questions and answers

Which Maryland counties have the most recorded tornadoes?

Frederick (38), St. Mary's (34) and Baltimore (32), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.

Which Maryland counties have the most flood insurance claims?

Baltimore (3,366), Anne Arundel (2,825) and Worcester (2,519) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.

How many federal disaster declarations has Maryland had?

38 declarations since 1953 (major disaster, emergency and fire management assistance declarations combined), 1 of them in 2026 so far.

How does Maryland compare with the national rate?

257.5 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 4.1 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.1.

Provenance

NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 refreshed 29 Sep 2026; OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026); FEMA National Risk Index December 2025; US Census Bureau 2021 population and area. Built 30 Sep 2026. Methodology.